The Inventor
by waffleman1314-AJ ThaPlatypus
Summary: Paradoxes, incidents, and badly-kept secrets; not to mention unanswered questions. The Inventor wonders if he ever should have revealed his identity. Everything is getting out of hand. And let's not forget that mysterious Timelord in the police box- why does HE keep showing up?
1. Prologue

**Hey, where did those lovely lines of separation go?! Oh well, never mind. I will have to deal. Anyways, a friend and I came up with this idea and I wrote a bit on it. He really likes it (and only gives input, not like an actual collab) so I'm posting it on a limb. Just for clarification: it is a sort of crossover, but it leans more towards a spoof. -AJ ThaPlatypus**

He stumbled in the doors and fell face-first on the floor. Pain raced through his body, but he knew it wasn't the end. Well, it wasn't the end for his life. It was, though, the end of himself as he knew. Whoever he was going to be, in a few minutes, he hoped that he would be decent. Of course, he couldn't control that.

The Inventor, as he called himself, crawled over to the console and pulled himself up. He leaned against the controls and bit his lip. With any luck, Erin wouldn't have to see him go. Not that he wanted to leave her. He wanted her to be safe, but it was better to leave her here in her own time and not have to endure the struggles of adjusting to his new self.

The doors slammed open and the Inventor let out a groan. Footsteps echoed on the floor of his TARDIS. A hand lighted on his shoulder. He painstakingly turned a little to give her a forced smile. Any minute now. Erin frowned with concern. She looked back out at the world outside.

"We've won," she said softly, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder. There was a streak of green in it. Her Scotch accent sounded softer than usual. "They've all gone. We need to get you to a doctor."

"No need," he said through his teeth. He pushed a few buttons that closed the doors and started to move the TARDIS to its next location. Erin gave him a curious glare. "I'll be fine, I promise. Timelords…sort of have a way to cheat death…"

"And how do you do that?" she asked, folding her arms.

"When we're close to dying," he explained, trying to slow down his breathing, "we change. We…change form. We change voice. We change a lot. You could almost say…we become someone new."

"I don't want you to change!" Erin exclaimed. "You can't change!"

"It's already happening," the Inventor sighed. He stood up to his full height once more and stepped away from the center console. "Any moment now, the regeneration process will render me anew."

"How different?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering.

"I don't know," he admitted. He felt a wave of heat wash over him. "But promise me one thing, Erin."

"What?" she jutted her chin forward, eager to fulfill his dying wish. He smiled at this. Loyal Erin. She would follow him to the end of the Earth if she could. "What, Inventor? What must I promise?"

"Promise me you won't abandon whoever…whoever takes my place," he gasped.

"I promise!" she cried. She placed a hand over her mouth and choked back a sob. "I promise, I promise!"

"Good," the Inventor dipped his head. He lay his eyes one last time on his faithful companion and wished for whoever came next to not abandon her as well. He felt his arms forced out wide and his head backwards. Energy flowed through his body like a wildfire consumes a forest. He was certain Erin must have jumped back.

Erin, though, was still gazing at his regenerating form. Her mouth fell open in shock as she saw the glowing energy bursting from his hands and face. It all happened so fast. The burst of energy, and then, where the Inventor had been standing, was a mangled pile of clothes. She frowned in horror and ran over to his clothes.

"Inventor!" she screamed.

She knelt next to the clothes and noticed movement. Curiously, she picked up the garments and, much to her shock, saw an infant wrapped up in them. Something told her that this wasn't what the Inventor had been thinking. A baby couldn't fly the TARDIS.

The TARDIS! Erin scooped the baby, whom she assumed was the new form of her Timelord friend, and scanned the console. She didn't know how to fly it either. Yet here they were, tumbling through space and time. Unsure of what else to do, she crouched down and held the baby to her chest, hoping that the impact of wherever they landed wouldn't harm him.

It was, indeed, more than what she'd expected. The TARDIS' impact with the ground it landed on was rough. Both she and the infantile Inventor were thrown into the floor. Once the jarring movement stopped, she climbed out of the ship, baby still to her chest, and pulled herself away from it. It had sloppily disguised itself as British telephone booth.

"What do I do…?" she mumbled, looking from the wrecked TARDIS to the infant Timelord in her arms. She produced the key that the Inventor had given her after their third adventure together. She smiled nostalgically at the memory. It had been in ancient Rome. She tucked the key into the clothes she'd picked the Inventor up in.

Looking around, she noticed a house siting by its lonesome. She forced herself over to it and climbed the steps. The wreck had jostled her way more than it had the baby. On one hand, she was grateful. On the other, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to care for her friend as she'd promised. She pulled out a small slip of paper to accompany the key and wrote on it, "From Erin; Remember Brilliantly. F-E-R-B."

She tucked the paper next to the key and sighed. The door was inches from her tired hands. Looking down at the baby she held, she knew she had to try. She reached out and rapped on the door. Letting her body fall down to the porch, she waited.

A man in his early twenties opened the door. He gasped and dropped down beside her. She reached one hand up to him and he grasped it. He noticed the baby and frowned, obviously curious.

"I'm Lawrence," he said quietly. "Who are you? Are you hurt? Are you alright?"

"Erin," she said, her voice raspy. Her head started to throb. She must have hit her head against something within the TARDIS. Everything was starting to swim. Had she blacked out before leaving the ship? She couldn't remember. She looked to the man and indicated the baby with her fingers. "He must…remember…F-E-R-B…"

"F-E-R-B?" Lawrence blinked. Why had she only given him the acronym? She wanted to point to the paper she'd placed in the baby's garments, but her arm fell limp. The man gave her a curious look. "Ferb? Is that his name? Is that a name?"

Erin tried to respond to correct him and tell him that his name was not the acronym she'd given him; his name was the Inventor, and he was trying to find his people once more. But no words came from her mouth. She gasped for air and felt her grip loosen on the child. Her vision went lack, and she knew no more.

Eight days later, Lawrence learned from the hospital that he'd brought Erin to that she was dead. He was permitted to keep the infant, since there were no records of his existence. In her honor, he had the baby registered in London and adopted him as his own. He took the boy home and brought him up the same way he'd been brought up. His parents never questioned the adoption, but Lawrence soon married an American to give the boy a mother and siblings; he had tired of single parenting. He gave the slip of paper and the key to the boy, never questioning what they were or what they meant. And just for Erin, he did one other thing…

He called him Ferb.


	2. A Secret Life

**I FOUND THE LOVELY LINE THING! :D Happiness. -AJ **

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><p>He quickly exited the phone booth and shut the door quietly. His eyes flitted over to the clock on his stepbrother's night stand. Midnight. Slowly, he turned his gaze to the bed. Empty. Panic ensued for a slight moment, but he kept his cool. He'd only been gone for a few minutes. Technically. The door to their bedroom creaked open and his stepbrother slipped in.<p>

"Why did you get redressed?" he frowned, looking him up and down. His brother fell over onto his own bed and gave him a curious look. "You going somewhere? Or are you going through a new phase where you wear your day clothes to bed?"

His brother ignored his silence. It was normal. Phineas never questioned his silent nature. Still, he couldn't help but wonder when he should share his secrets with him. Blinking, he reached for his night clothes and quickly changed into them.

"So…not going anywhere, Ferb?"

He shook his head and crawled under the covers. He'd already gone somewhere, but Phineas wouldn't know that. Turning so that he faced the wall instead of his brother, he held up a small key in one palm. It glinted a little from moonlight that was leaking through their window. Ferb twisted the key around in his fingers. He sighed.

Reaching under his pillow, he grasped a small slip of paper and pulled it out to see. It had taken him forever and a day to decode it, and when he had, several lifetimes' worth of memories had flooded back into his consciousness. He smoothed out the paper and stared down at the hurried writing on it.

"From Erin; Remember Brilliantly. F-E-R-B."

Erin. If his deduction was right, the 'mother' that Lawrence, his adoptive father, had told him about had been none other than his Scotch companion. She'd died because he'd been stupid and tried to return her to her own time while he was regenerating. His TARDIS had been in flight when he'd changed, and no one could have predicted regeneration into an infant. Well, he would have never counted it out. But it was the amnesia that bothered him the most. If he hadn't lost his knowledge of who he was, he could have saved her.

It was a tempting thought to go into the past to find her…

Ferb shook his head. He shouldn't cross his own timeline. How many times had his real father told him that? More than he could count. He missed his real father, as distant a memory as he was. He'd tried to fly his father's ship back to Gallifrey on a few occasions; for some reason that hadn't worked. Maybe someday he'd get the chance to return the stolen TARDIS to his father and be readmitted into his family. Maybe.

He quickly nodded off and fell into a dreamless sleep. The next morning, he was wakened by Phineas' alarm clock. They arose together and got dressed before heading downstairs. Breakfast was swallowed and they dashed outside to begin their daily adventures. They turned down the sidewalk and headed in the direction of Isabella's house. She was their neighbor, and a girl completely infatuated with his brother.

"So, I think I have a good idea of what to do today," Phineas hummed as they walked. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He'd lived with Phineas for twelve years now, and was, according to this regeneration, sixteen years older. "But I'm not so sure that it's the greatest idea I've ever had…I just want some adventure, some experience!"

"Oh, I have a brilliant idea for adventure," Ferb said flatly. Any adventure in time and space was a worthwhile one. Of course, he didn't actually mean that he'd reveal anything. Unless he had to. Phineas knocked on Isabella's door and gave his brother a curious smile.

"You'll have to share it with us!" he said excitedly. Isabella opened the door and batted her eyes a little. Before she could say anything, Phineas plowed ahead into his own conversation. "C'mon, Isabella, Ferb said he's got a great idea! It's just us for today; Buford and Baljeet went to some camp where bullies and nerds grow closer together, so it's just us for the next week or so."

"Wait, you actually want to know what I was suggesting?" Ferb frowned. He suddenly felt guilty for having brought it up at all. Swallowing, he tugged at the collar of his shirt a little. Phineas and Isabella looked at him expectantly. His brother nodded. Sighing, he waved for them to follow him. He took them back up to their bedroom and closed the door.

"Ferb, what are you insinuating?" Phineas blinked.

"Nothing!" Ferb said, giving his brother a severe look. Isabella flushed red. He looked around and pulled the blinds down over their window. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his key.

"I don't understand, why are you shutting us in here like we're hiding?" Phineas blinked. He crossed his arms. "Are we playing video games?"

"No," he shook his head. He walked over to the phone booth and inserted the key. He took a deep breath. It was time he confided in the boy he'd called brother for twelve years. Twisting, he opened the door. "Phineas, it's about time I've shown you this."

"Your…decorative phone booth?" Phineas asked. Ferb turned around and waved for the twosome to come closer. They did so, but warily. "Ferb, how long have you been able to open this? I thought it was just for show?"

"Just come inside and see," Ferb told them. He ran inside and looked around. It had been lonely in there since Erin had died. He'd vowed, though, to keep his TARDIS company throughout the years. She'd been left alone for too long when he'd been regaining his memory. He acknowledged her with a soft smile. "Told you I wouldn't be long."

He turned around to face Phineas and Isabella to find them gaping at the technology before them. Now, they'd seen Ferb make buildings bigger on the inside before; he was skilled in Timelord science and engineering, naturally. What seemed to be blowing their minds was that the technology they saw before them then was the likes of which they'd never seen before. Not his own; his father's.

"What…what does it do?" Phineas said, his eyes lit up in wonder and adventure. He came further in and spun around to take it all in. "Ferb, when did you build this?"

"I didn't," he said softly. He stroked the console with one finger and sighed. "This is a ship. A very special ship. Time And Relative Distance In Space, they're called. TARDIS for short."

"TARDIS?" Isabella blinked. She was looking around as well. "So…what you're saying, based on the name, is that this is a time machine?"

"Time and space," Ferb corrected her gently.

"If you didn't make it," Phineas turned to look at him, "then where did you get it? Haven't you had this since before our parents married?"

"Yes, yes I have," Ferb nodded. He sighed and started pressing buttons and pulling levers. "It's a long story, but I'd much rather show you what she can do. Future, past, present; Earth or another planet. It's a matter of when and where you want to go. So…where to?"

"The future in a different place!" Phineas blurted. Ferb smiled. He could think of no one better to have told. The engines started to whir.

"Hold on," Ferb grinned.


	3. Quick Trip to Danger

**I've got a lot of chapters already ready so bear with me! -AJ **

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><p>Things went well until the TARDIS was jerked violently out of the Time Vortex. The threesome tumbled to the floor. Ferb reached for the console and brought up exterior view on a screen. He gasped and pulled out a sonic wrench. He tried to make a jump back into the Time Vortex, but the TARDIS wouldn't comply. Climbing under the console near the engine, he started to fiddle with the stabilizers.<p>

"Ferb!" Phineas cried from somewhere above him. "What's going on?"

"There's a black hole here that I don't remember being here!" Ferb exclaimed. He heard a shriek of terror come from Isabella. Ignoring her, he tried to focus and think of how he could boost the engine's power to escape the gravity of the black hole. "I mean, this black hole wasn't here last time I visited!"

"Well, perhaps those people leaving it created it?" Phineas frowned. Ferb paused. What on Earth was his brother seeing on the screen? Or was the door open?

"Phineas, if the TARDIS doors are open, you need to close them before you get sucked out of here into that black hole!" Ferb warned him.

"Chill!" Phineas reassured him. "I'm looking at your little screen! Their ship isn't much bigger than ours appears to be on the outside…but it seems to be towing something?"

"Not now, Phineas!" Ferb rolled his eyes. He searched more for the problem, pulling at wires and observing them to see if anything was loose or in need of immediate repair. Placing the sonic wrench in his mouth, he crawled a little deeper into the mass of wiring.

"Hold up, is it a British police box?" Phineas remarked. "Who drives an antiquity like that into space?"

"We're in a telephone booth!" Isabella pointed out.

"Good point," Phineas hummed.

Ferb dashed back upstairs to check their proximity to the black hole. He frowned. Phineas was right; a little blue box was towing something away from the very black hole that was sucking them in. It took a bit of restraint for him to keep from considering the other ship and its crew jerks. Could they not see them? Still, something seemed vaguely familiar about that ship.

"Is that another Timelord…?" he whispered. He shook his head. They obviously didn't know that they were here, or they would have hopefully recognized the presence of another TARDIS. Ferb ducked back under near the engine and pulled out a few wires. He called up to his passengers, "I think I've found the problem, but I don't know how fast I can fix this!"

There was no response from the two above. Ferb frowned and climbed back up the ladder to look at them. They were both huddled against the side of the TARDIS and shaking a little. He felt bad for instantly placing them in danger. It was true that he couldn't have predicted a black hole being strong enough to pull his TARDIS out of the Time Vortex, but he definitely should have thought things through before embarking on a wild adventure.

"I-Isabella?" Phineas swallowed.

"Y-yes, Phineas?" she answered, looking up at him and locking eyes. Ferb almost forgot that he was supposed to be fixing the TARDIS' engine so that they could travel away from the black hole.

"I…I have a confession…" he said, keeping his gaze fixed on her. Ferb secretly was cheering on the inside, but he was also slightly disappointed. If Phineas was about to do what he thought he was going to do, he would have to give him a playful punch later. He'd been waiting for this day far too long.

"Uh…uh-huh?" Isabella responded.

"Well…um, i-if you, I mean…I mean we, die today…I just…I just want you to know…" Phineas stammered. Ferb imagined he was probably grasping onto his ear by now. He started mending the first wire. There were four to fix, each that had more damage than he'd originally expected.

"Yes?" Isabella urged him to continue with pleading heavy in her voice. Perhaps his cheeks were turning red now.

"I-I just want you to…to know…that…that I…" Phineas stumbled over his words. _Oh, spit it out, already!_ Ferb thought. He heard his brother take a deep breath. "I just want you to know that I love-"

Phineas' words were cut off. Frowning and setting down the first wire, which was now intact, Ferb poked his head up to where he could see the two. His eyes bugged out a little and he covered his mouth. Isabella had shut him up with a kiss, apparently, and now the two's lips were locked together as if they'd been glued that way.

"Well," Ferb chuckled. He ducked back down and started to fiddle with the next wire. It was more badly damaged than the first. Placing his sonic wrench around it, he watched as it started to meld the frayed wires back together. "It would be helpful if you two could come down here and help…I know you're sort of busy right now."

He paused a moment. Based on what he was hearing, they had progressed from a short kiss to shut up his rambling to that sort of making out that only happens when two lovers are in terror of losing their lives. Ferb shook his head and sighed. So it had taken them being in mortal danger of death to realize that they'd been in love with one another from day one.

Turning back to his work, he pulled the sonic away from the wire and ran one finger over the mended wire. He reached for the third, which had several spots that he needed to fix. Setting about doing that, he turned his head to the side so that perhaps the lovebirds could hear him.

"Would one of you give me a status update on our proximity to the black hole?" Ferb called a second time. Again, there was no response. He sighed and continued to mend the wire in his hands. "You know, if we get out of this mess, you can't just keep snogging into eternity! We could actually do something with our lives!"

He tossed aside the mended wire and hurried to fix the last one. It was a quicker fix than its previous two, so he melded the wires back together and scrambled up the stairs to the console. Phineas and Isabella were clutching one another in fear, her face buried in his chest, and his arms tightly wrapped around her. Ferb's eyes wandered to the screen before him

"I love you," he heard Phineas whisper to Isabella.

"I love you, too," she sniffled. "And I always have! I've loved you since the day I met you, Phineas!"

"Me, too!" he cried. Their embrace on one another tightened, and Phineas kissed her forehead.

Ferb dashed over to the console and started to switch levers and press buttons frantically. His eyes kept darting between the screen and what he was doing. He felt a sweat start to bead on his brow. He couldn't let his TARDIS give out; not now.

"Come on!" he said through his teeth. "Don't give up on me now, we're been doing this for centuries!"

"Centuries?" Phineas started. Ferb didn't think to turn around. He was too focused on his ship's success. At last, the familiar sound of the engines running normally graced his ears and the TARDIS started to pull away from the black hole. Ferb didn't care where it took them, so long as it was somewhere safe. Phineas wasn't finished though. "What do you mean _centuries_?"


	4. An Introduction

**Still uploading them...-AJ **

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><p>"You said…you've been 'doing this for centuries,' Ferb?" Phineas blinked. He and Isabella stood up and walked over towards him. "You mean centuries' worth of time travel, right? Right, Ferb?"<p>

"No," he shook his head. He leaned over with his palms on the console and took a deep breath. Phineas gave him a curious look. "Look, where do I even begin with this? It's a long and complicated explanation."

"Well, just start with the beginning," Isabella suggested. She grasped Phineas' hand and smiled. "We've got eternity, after all."

"Fair enough," Ferb sighed. "Well, for starters, I'm not human. And I'm not Lawrence's son. I'm a Timelord from the planet Gallifrey, and my true parents are there still."

"You're…an alien?" Phineas asked.

"If that's what term you wish to use," Ferb shrugged.

"So…if you're a centuries old alien…from another planet…with no relation to Dad whatsoever…how do you look like him?" Phineas questioned.

"Ah, yes," Ferb sighed. "Timelords have a trick of cheating death…when we're close to dying, our bodies, our voices, our personalities change. It's often of faces we've seen before. I don't remember it, but I'm certain I'd seen his face somewhere before I regenerated into my current form. As for my age, which I'm sure you'll ask about next, when you regenerate sometimes your physical age seems to change as well. It was unfortunate that when it happened, I retrogressed into an infant."

"So…Lawrence found you in your TARDIS and took you as his own?" Isabella posed.

"I'm not sure," Ferb admitted. "I was stuck with an infantile amnesia of who I was. My only clues as to my true self were the key to the TARDIS and a slip of paper given to me by my companion, Erin. She wrote an acronym on it that we'd often used in reference to one of our adventures. That's where Lawrence got the idea that my name was Ferb…"

"Your name _isn't_ Ferb?" Phineas gawked.

"No," Ferb shook his head. "For centuries, I've gone by a title. My friends called me the Inventor."

"Is that your actual name?" Phineas furthered.

"No," Ferb shook his head again. "But that's not relevant. My story isn't all that fascinating. As a young boy on Gallifrey, I made poor choices and ended up leaving the planet. When I left, I stole my father's TARDIS for transport. I haven't been back since."

"Why not go back?" Isabella frowned. "If it's been so long that you've been gone, surely you should go back to your parents and make up with them. You don't seem like the type to hold grudges."

"I've tried to go back," he admitted, tracing a few details on the console. Phineas and Isabella each gave him an equally confused glance. He looked back up. "For some reason the TARDIS can't make it back there. She can go anywhere throughout time and space, but she can't go to Gallifrey…"

There was an awkward silence. Ferb clapped his hands.

"Well, if you two will follow me, I will show you to your rooms," he told them, putting an extra emphasis on the plural aspect of the word. He waved them on and took them back into the halls of his ship. He pointed out two bedrooms that were right across from one another. "Phineas, you can take the left-hand room, and Isabella, you can take the right-hand room."

"You're gonna let us stay on your ship overnight?" Isabella blinked.

"Well, it's cheaper than a hotel and less noisy to boot," Ferb told her. He walked towards the room he'd assigned to Isabella and pointed to the back. "You'll notice there are some pipes running along the walls in here. Don't worry, they're practically harmless. They're in Phineas' room as well. Do be careful not to touch them, though—they're quite hot."

"I'll do my best," Isabella said sarcastically.

"Seriously, now," Ferb warned. "I don't want to hear you screaming later on."

"Whatever you say, bro," Phineas reassured him. "Where do you sleep at?"

"I've got my own personal space," Ferb told him flatly. "After all, the entirety of the ship is under my control. I know every inch of her. Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to step outside for a moment. Behave yourselves."

"Gosh, Ferb, what do you think we're gonna do?" Phineas chuckled.

"I'm not entirely sure," Ferb hummed. He turned on his heel and headed back to the console. Checking firstly to see where he was, he stepped outside and looked around. Frowning, he stepped back inside. The planet called Skaro…not the place he wanted to be. It was weird that it was so desolate. He started flipping some switches to move the TARDIS somewhere safer. London, perhaps. Or Edinburgh. Edinburgh reminded him of Erin…

The hum of the engine put Ferb at ease. He kind of wanted to go to the hospital and see if he could learn anything about her death. The TARDIS materialized just outside of Edinburgh. He looked around and made his way down to the hospital that was closest to his first home here on Earth. Of course, he'd later moved to London before Lawrence had married Linda, but that was beside the point. He was concerned with one thing and one thing only.

He walked up to the reception desk and waited for someone to help him. A lady turned her chair to him and smiled up at him, probably not thinking much of him based on the fact that he looked sixteen. Ferb smiled back a little.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here for information about a dead family member," he lied. She raised her brow. "Her name was Erin Amtiarna. I was told that just after I was born, she died in this very hospital. I was wondering if you could find out her cause of death."

"We don't just hand out this information, laddie," she said sweetly.

"It's for a school project about sad moments in our lives," he said, hoping she'd buy it. "You see, she was my…my mother. I don't want my paper to be…incorrect. It wouldn't do her justice."

"Give me a moment," she bit her lip. She turned back to her monitor and started to type information into the system. He waited patiently. Certainly Phineas and Isabella had enough to entertain themselves with. Even as smart as his stepbrother was, he wouldn't be able to figure out how to fly the TARDIS in the time that Ferb was gone. "Ah, here we are! Erin Amtiarna; she was admitted to the hospital for blacking out. She'd suffered a severe concussion that had killed her, but the records express that after her death, when they went to dispose of the body, it had mysteriously disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Ferb blinked. Had he, in his own future, gone back and taken Erin's body to bury it himself? He blinked in wonder. His interest had been peaked. He needed to find out, and soon. "Thank you for your time."

Before she could respond, Ferb bolted out of the hospital and dashed in the direction of his TARDIS. He jerked its door open and ran over to the console. His breathing had picked up and he quickly moved the TARDIS back in time. He turned to leave once more, but was stopped short with a soft scream.


	5. Explanations

**And this is why this story is rated T...because my friend asked for this part...-AJ **

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><p>Ferb rushed back towards the bedrooms he'd assigned to Phineas and Isabella and knocked on his human stepbrother's door. When no response came, Ferb bit his lip and turned to knock on Isabella's door. He knocked four times. Still, there was no answer. A small sound, presumably a moan, came from her room. Ferb placed his face in his hands.<p>

"Isabella, I _told_ you not to touch the hot pipes!" he exclaimed. He pushed the door open, glanced inside, and then quickly leapt back out and shut the door behind him. What the _heck_ had he just seen? Rubbing his eyes, he marched back to the console room and reached for a phone. He snatched it up, dialed a number, and pressed the phone to his ear.

One dial tone. Two. Three.

"Hello?"

"Candace!" Ferb said, delighted to hear the voice of the human he'd considered his sister for twelve years. "Candace, what time is it?"

"Ferb! Where are you guys?" she asked, sounding frazzled. She was twenty-three, married to Jeremy, and attending a local college. "Mom has been freaking out all day saying that you haven't been at home for hours!"

"Well, it's difficult to explain…" Ferb sighed. "But I'm thinking a series of very bad things has just happened. We nearly died, and now-"

"YOU NEARLY DIED?!" Candace spluttered.

"Candace, focus!" Ferb exclaimed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "We got close to a black hole, but we're fine. The bigger problem is-"

"A BLACK HOLE?!"

"Will you let me finish?" Ferb said, trying his best to keep his calm. Candace fell silent on the other end of the line. "What I'm trying to say is that I _would_ bring Phineas and Isabella home right now, but, um, they seem to be, um, a little _busy_…"

"Busy…in what sense…?" Candace asked. The tone of her voice told him that she already somewhat understood what he was getting at.

"How was I supposed to predict that taking them to space would end up with inappropriate action?" Ferb sighed. "I left them alone for _twenty_ minutes, and now I'm regretting doing that!"

"Um…" Candace murmured. "Well, why don't you come over to my house and I'll return that call to Mom, letting her know that you've been over here all day? That way you don't have to arrive at home and not be able to explain what's going on."

"Thanks…" Ferb mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Why is that relevant?" Candace asked.

"We might be in the past right now…" he frowned. Candace sighed and gave him the time. He set the TARDIS coordinates to go to her house at that time and was in her yard in a matter of seconds.

"What is that sound outside?" Candace wondered absent-mindedly.

"Us," Ferb said. He ended the call and ran outside. He hurried into Candace's house and found her in the kitchen. She put down her phone and shook her head.

"You time traveled while your brother and friend were getting it in inside of a time machine?" Candace chuckled nervously. She turned around and made a short, quick call to her mom stating that she'd had the day free and had taken Ferb, Phineas, and Isabella out for a day of fun. They would be staying the night at her house, if she was too worried.

"You saved his tail…" Ferb rolled his eyes.

"Well, I learned a short time ago that you have to appreciate the time you have," she shrugged. "That's why I stopped trying to bust you guys all of the time. So now I'm on your side, even if I don't agree with what Phineas is currently doing."

"I see," Ferb said. It hit him that time was something humans saw as a straight line. He was fortunate to have friends and family that loved him, even if he did belong to another planet, another time, another life. Looking away, he regretted never having been able to go back to Gallifrey. He regretted not having been there for Erin. But he'd fix that. Even if time was limited for humans, it wasn't for him. And he'd make use of it regardless.

The door slammed closed behind him. Phineas and Isabella walked in and put their hands in their pockets. Ferb would have questioned their speed at getting redressed and everything else, but he did remind himself that he'd been in a time machine. They acted as if nothing had even happened.

"So…why did you not tell us we were going to Candace's house?" Phineas asked, assuming that Ferb was oblivious to what had been taking place.

"Phineas, the better question is why did you decide to knock up someone that's not even you're official girlfriend or, for that matter, wife?" Candace folded her arms, much like a mother would scold a child. Both of their cheeks lit up with rouge. "Yeah, that's what I thought, irresponsible kids! There's a reason you wait until you're married!"

"I…" Phineas started.

"No!" Candace shook her head. "What you did was reckless. What happens if she turns up pregnant? How do you explain that one to her mom? Or what if you guys never get married, but you have that part of you that you just gave away because you just _felt something_?"

"Candace," Ferb said sternly. She backed down, but turned and gave Phineas a slap to the shoulder. Phineas frowned and looked at Ferb. "But I left you alone for twenty minutes and this is what happens? What were you thinking?"

"It was all just…heat of the moment…" Phineas murmured.

"My TARDIS didn't appreciate that, and neither did my eyes!" Ferb groaned. The realization that Ferb had actually seen them in the act made them both flush an even deeper scarlet. "And before you ask how the TARDIS has feelings, she _does_. She's a living creature, same as you and I."

"So…you're saying I got some in a sentient time and space ship?" Phineas swallowed. Ferb nodded. "My apologies…TARDIS…"

Ferb grabbed the sides of Phineas' head and pressed his own forehead against Phineas'. He had, since he'd remembered who he really was, always seen Phineas as a little brother, and now proved it more than ever. Candace looked at him curiously. He sighed and ruffled Phineas' messy hair.

"You humans can be a real mess sometimes," Ferb whispered, chuckling. He smiled softly at Phineas. "But that's often what makes you so fantastic. You're all stories about mixed up people just trying to make the best of the world. You make mistakes. You learn from them. You have potential. You don't waste it."

Phineas remained silent. He just stood there and soaked in the words of his brother. Ferb didn't want to push him away. If there were any two persons that he'd replace Erin with, not that he'd choose to replace her at all, it would be Phineas and Isabella. He patted his brother on the shoulder and walked back out to his TARDIS. He would spend the night there. He'd wait a while. And then he'd go to the past to find out what had happened to Erin.

At least, that was the plan.


	6. Erin

**"I'm going...on...an adventure!" And again with the disclaimer; it's a bit of a spoof-story! -AJ **

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><p>It was a good three months before Ferb found a good window of time to try and leave for the past in search of Erin. He waited for a time when Buford and Baljeet were absent so that he wouldn't have an entire entourage. He brought Phineas and Isabella back into the TARDIS and took them back to Edinburgh on the night of Erin's death.<p>

"So, tell me one more time what we're doing?" Phineas frowned.

"I told you that I had a companion with me when I regenerated into this form," Ferb told him. He stepped out of the TARDIS and looked down the dark street. Isabella and Phineas stepped out behind him. "Erin died this night, and her body was said to have disappeared after her death. We're here to find out what really happened."

"Oh, interesting!" Phineas smiled. Ferb lead them down the street. It was only a few blocks before he saw a rather beat up telephone booth on the side of the road. He stopped in his tracks. Phineas' eyebrows shot upwards. "Whoa, that telephone booth must've been hit by a car! It looks pretty rough!"

Ferb ran over to it and ran his hands over its battered exterior. Phineas and Isabella frowned and came over beside him. Sadly, Ferb traced his finger along the windows and cracks in them. He knew that things got better, but seeing it from this time made it seem crueler, in a since.

"It wasn't your fault," he whispered to the younger TARDIS. He turned to Phineas. "Eight days ago she crash-landed with myself and Erin inside. Here she sits for seven years. Alone and hurt. But don't worry, old girl—I come back for you. I remember you. Don't worry one bit."

He patted her gently and turned to continue on with his stroll towards the hospital. They arrived there to see a lot of business occurring out front. Ferb pushed past them with ease, Phineas and Isabella close on his heels. He knew the room that Erin was in only because Lawrence had told him on several occasions that she had died in room 221. Not stopping, he plowed on ahead, his goal in mind. It wasn't long before he was entering the room where Erin lay.

"There she is…" Ferb whispered. Phineas and Isabella gave him some distance. Ferb went to her bedside and picked up one of her hands in his. "She still has a pulse, but they've already declared her dead…that's…unusual."

"How do you know they've already declared her dead?" Phineas frowned. Ferb pointed to some files on a nearby table. Phineas frowned and read them. "Wait…but she was dead when they tested and she's not now…? That doesn't make any sense…!"

Not wanting to wait for an answer, Ferb scooped up her still form and rushed out of the hospital. Phineas and Isabella tried in vain to keep up. He ran all the way back to his current TARDIS and burst through the doors. He laid Erin on the floor and touched her cheek. Her eyes flitted open.

"You're not the doctor…" she whispered. Her eyes lazily looked to the ceiling.

"No, no, it's me!" Ferb pleaded. He didn't want to watch her die, but here he was, watching her fade from the world. Her brain had been jarred too much. "It's the Inventor! I've come back for you!"

"Inventor…" she whispered, her lips barely moving. Phineas and Isabella caught up and stopped in the doorway. Ferb felt her skin start to become warmer. He frowned. Stepping back, he watched in shock as golden light started to come from her skin.

"What…you can't possibly be-!" Ferb backed into Phineas and kept his eyes locked on Erin's form. Light burst from her hands and from her face. Erin stood to her feet and thrust her arms outward. "How is this possible?!"

"Ferb, what's happening to her?" Phineas exclaimed, in even more shock than Ferb was at the moment. He pointed at Erin's body in what seemed to be terror.

"Remember when I told you that Timelords have a means of cheating death by regenerating?" Ferb swallowed. Phineas and Isabella nodded. He stared at Erin's changing form in wonder. "This…this is it…"

"She was a Timelord also?" Isabella asked.

"Apparently," Ferb blinked. Erin's body jerked forward and the glowing ceased. She fell forward onto the floor of the TARDIS, but caught herself with her hands. Standing up once more, she looked at herself with curiosity. Her eyes, which had previously been brown, were now a vibrant blue. They widened.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, in a Scotch accent, but a different voice than the one she'd had before. "New skin tone!" She ruffled her loose hair and pulled it in front of her face to see it. "New color! Vibrant, vibrant noir!"

"Erin?" Ferb said, cautions intervening on her moment of new self-discovery. The girl's head snapped up and she smiled brightly.

"Inventor, I'm not dead!" she exclaimed brilliantly. "I've changed like you have!"

"How?" Ferb came towards her. He blinked to keep from being captivated by her alluring eyes. She shook her head and shrugged. Ferb touched her face and felt his hearts racing. "I've waited sixteen years for you…"

"It's been sixteen years?" Erin gasped.

"I traveled back to this night they said you died," Ferb said slowly. His eyes locked with hers. He'd always loved Erin; always. But her being a human had prevented him from ever expressing it. "How are you a Timelord? You were born here, weren't you?"

"I don't know where I was born," she shrugged. "But at the age of twelve, I was placed in a foster home in Edinburgh and grew up here. I don't remember anything before that."

"Who were your parents?" he asked, more forcefully than he'd meant. He couldn't help it, but after years of knowing someone, they didn't just suddenly reveal they were a Timelord without good reason to question. "There had to be something! You can't just be a Timelord and not come from Gallifrey!"

"I don't remember my parents," Erin said softly. "And this is just as new to me as it is to you. So don't blame me for withholding information from you!"

Ferb started to pace back and forth. She didn't know. He didn't know. And there were no parents or foster parents that knew either. Whatever had happened, she couldn't remember anything past her twelfth year of life. He tried to think of logical possibilities. None came to mind.

"Could you look into her past and see?" Phineas suggested.

"Possibly," Ferb shrugged. "But I'm not the best time traveler there ever was. I don't know how to follow her timeline and locate her without her knowing anything specific. But we can try."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Erin threw her arms up. She paused and looked at Phineas and Isabella. "Wait, who are these two people?"

"Phineas and Isabella," Ferb told her. "They're coming, too."

He set the TARDIS to travel back in time, but he couldn't say to when. Or where.


	7. Prioritizing

**Still uploading, I am! -AJ **

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><p>The first attempt at traveling back in Erin's timeline ultimately failed. He ended up in London, where panic was afoot. There was some bit about mannequins having invaded and tried to kill everyone, but he'd shrugged it off and returned home.<p>

It was another month before they were all together again. Ferb hadn't forgotten about Erin's mysterious past, but he wasn't willing to try again. After all, why should he be concerned with why she was a Timelord? She was his type, which meant he could freely show romantic interest in her.

So, instead of trying to investigate Erin's past, Ferb offered for a different option. They would go into the future in Danville and explore. It was purely recreational. When they all piled into the TARDIS, Ferb got the engine ready. Isabella came over beside him and tugged at his sleeve. Ferb frowned and looked at her.

"Yes?" he said.

"Since Phineas is occupied with talking to Erin right now, I thought I'd ask you a question," she said slowly. Ferb finished plugging in coordinates and then focused solely on his friend.

"Alright," Ferb nodded. "What do you need?"

"What would happen, say, if a child was conceived while the TARDIS was in the Time Vortex?" she asked rather bluntly. Ferb nearly choked on his own spit. He looked her up and down and raised one eyebrow. "What? It's…a fairly innocent question."

"I don't know what would happen," Ferb told her honestly. "I've never heard of that happening. Not to say it hasn't; it probably has. Of course, why would you even ask such a question if you weren't concerned for your own possible child?"

Isabella's cheeks colored. Ferb didn't want to make things awkward, but if she was pregnant and they walked into danger, it was important for him to know. Not to mention all of the other people that _deserved_ to know. Phineas, for one. Her parents; Phineas' parents. Maybe even Candace.

"You're not obliged to tell me anything," Ferb said softly, letting her know that he wasn't forcing her to give up any reasons as to why she'd asked. "But I do want to keep you safe. It's a number one priority."

At this, her visage changed and she broke into tears. She grasped Ferb's arm and buried her face in it. He sighed and just let her. Looking up a little, she said, "Oh, you were right, we were reckless! I'm only sixteen…what were we thinking?"

"What's done is done," Ferb said. She choked on another fit of crying and looked over her shoulder at Phineas. He'd noticed that she was crying, and he and Erin were walking over towards them now.

"Hey, what's wrong, Isabella?" Phineas frowned, taking her by the shoulders and gently turning her to face him. He lifted her chin with one finger and looked her in the eyes. She nervously glanced at Ferb, who blinked in response. "Ferb, why's she upset?"

"Her hormones are off-balance," Ferb said absent-mindedly. He walked back over to the console and started fiddling with levers and switches. Looking back at the couple, he watched her run one hand down her front, smoothing out her shirt. Phineas noticed the gesture and blanched.

"Oh, lordy," Erin breathed out. "How old are you two again?"

"Sixteen," Phineas managed. He cautiously put one hand to Isabella's stomach and swallowed. Ferb noticed, now that he was aware of the situation, that Isabella's stomach had rounded out a little. She was around four months pregnant. "We're…only sixteen…"

"And parents," Ferb said passively. He leaned one elbow on the TARDIS console and hummed. "How are you going to break this to Mom and Dad, Phineas? And Candace?"

"I…" Phineas turned even paler. Ferb picked up his phone and waved it at Phineas. His human stepbrother gulped and took the phone slowly. The Timelord dialed the digits for him, and he pressed the phone to his ear. Ferb shook his head and put it on speakerphone.

"Just so Isabella can speak as well," he reassured him. Candace picked up immediately this time.

"I should really put this strange number in my phone," Candace sighed. "What is this time, Ferb, is he knocking up Isabella on another planet this time?"

"It's Phineas," the boy said, reddening at the mention that his sister now thought of him as a sex-hungry teen who didn't care where or when it was that he satisfied his hunger. He gave Isabella a wary glance.

"Oh," Candace said, unable to take back her previous statement. "Well, um, what'cha need, little brother?"

"I'm pregnant," Phineas said without thinking. He smacked himself in the forehead and groaned. "No! That's not what I meant!"

"Um, Phineas, are you okay?" Candace asked.

"I meant to say that Isabella's pregnant, not me!" he corrected. He paused. "Well, I guess men typically say that they're pregnant when their wife is or their girlfriend is…like…but no, that's a _we_, that's a _we're pregnant…_"

"Wait, what?!" Candace exclaimed. "Isabella's pregnant?"

"Yes…" Isabella said softly. "Nineteen weeks…"

The line went silent. Candace was either having trouble processing it, or she was just too shocked to say anything. Ferb sighed and took the phone from his brother. He turned off the speakerphone and spoke slowly to her.

"It was nice speaking with you, Candace," he said, trying his best not to roll his eyes as he said it. "We'll see you when we get back from future Danville. Try not to tell Mom and Dad that Phineas is a father…it's his job to tell them, not you."

He hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose. Walking past everyone, he exited the TARDIS and found himself in the streets of Danville, several years into the future. The other three came out behind him, with a rally of excited ooh's and aah's. They'd instantly forgotten the awkward moment that they'd just endured. He knew that would happen. Why else leave the TARDIS in such a hurried fashion?

"Here we are," he smiled. "Welcome to Danville, in the fiftieth century! It's full or corrupt politicians, people with no sense of style, and a sense of danger around every corner! Who's ready to explore?"

"I am, Inventor!" Erin said with glee. He smiled. It was wonderful having her back by his side. She knew his style and she knew just what to do—and when to do it. Anyone who wouldn't have her as a companion was insane. "Dangers beware the might of the Inventor and his companions!"

"Whoo!" Phineas punched one fist in the air. "Look at all of this technology! This is a candy store of delights!"

"Let's go, then!" Ferb grinned.


	8. Angels and Demons

**Annnnd another one! Last upload for today though! -AJ **

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><p>Ferb couldn't remember how long they'd stayed in Danville of the fiftieth century. In fact, he couldn't remember what had gotten him <em>here<em>. He sat up and looked around. His friends were all lying on the same floor that he was, minus Erin. Where was she?

Standing up, he looked around. They were back in their own time. In the basement of their own house. He rushed over to see if Phineas and Isabella were alright. Phineas was lying face-first on the floor. He was fine, just obviously dazed. He then checked Isabella. She was lying face-up. He blinked.

"Hold up…" he shook Isabella's shoulder to rouse her. She sat up with a gasp, and then groaned, clutching her stomach. "Isabella…what do you last remember?"

"We were running off to explore…and then we woke up here…" she murmured. She leaned back and looked down. Gasping, she placed her hands on her stomach. "Were we there longer than we remembered?"

"That's what I was wanting to know," Ferb sighed. They both glared incredulously at her now obviously protruding belly. "You look to be several weeks more pregnant than before…"

"What on Earth happened?" she asked. Ferb helped her up to her own feet. She placed one hand under her stomach and grimaced. "Where's Phineas?"

"Right next to us, calm down," Ferb reassured her. Phineas was picking himself up. He turned around and blinked, rubbing his eyes. "Yes, we know—something's not right with the timing. She's-"

"-more pregnant than a few seconds ago, when we were in the future," Phineas finished for him. "And if you guys don't know how, I'm at the same place."

The familiar whir of the TARDIS engine sounded in the basement. They turned and watched it materialize across from them. Erin stepped out and frowned, looking frazzled. She pointed at Ferb and set her jaw.

"Great, you all look rather confused," she sighed.

"How did you find us?" Ferb asked her. "And how did you fly the TARDIS?"

"It was easy, I did it just how you showed me five seconds ago," she smiled a little. He went to ask, but she paused him by putting a hand up. "Yes, I know, you don't remember that. We were frozen in a point of time for nearly two months. When we went to find out what was going on, I twisted my ankle and you told me to stay with the TARDIS."

"That explains why you were there and the rest of us were not," Phineas nodded. "But what about the rest?"

"Well, you lot went to find the source of the frozen time, but you came in contact with some Weeping Angels," Erin rolled her eyes.

"What's a Weeping Angel?" Isabella frowned. "Something dangerous?"

"They're quantum-locked creatures," Ferb explained to her. She gave him a polite smile that said she was still confused. "They look like statues, but they aren't. They can't move when they're being looked at, because the moment something looks at them, they turn to stone. But when no one's looking…they're fast. Faster than fast."

"And what do they do when they're moving?" Phineas grimaced.

"Weeping Angels feed on time energy," Erin said, stepping out of the TARDIS. "When they touch you, you're transported back in time. This creates the time energy that they feed on. But that's sort of how they kill you. They send you back in time long enough that they know you're dead in the time they expelled you from."

"Still, that doesn't explain why we've all forgotten those two months when we were frozen in time," Ferb hummed. He thought for a moment. Before he could say anything, a door opened above them. Light pooled into the basement. Everyone's head turned towards the source.

Footsteps sounded on the creaky stairs. Ferb felt his hearts jump into his mouth. If that was Phineas' mom, then Isabella and Phineas were in for an unfortunate encounter. Looking at his human stepbrother and his girlfriend, he noted the fear written across each of their faces. What could they say? They couldn't explain that they'd been time-traveling.

They watched as Linda's feet came into view. No one made a sound. Erin, who had been staying in the TARDIS to avoid being seen by Phineas' parents, clutched the ship with her arms and kept her back to it. Ferb turned quietly and faced the stairs. Linda made it to the bottom of the stairs, flipped the lights on, and turned towards the open room. She gave out a shriek.

"Phineas?! Ferb?!" she stared between them as if she hadn't seen them in forever. Her gaze turned to Isabella. "Isabella…what…and who is that other girl? What's going on?!"

"It's a very, very long and complicated story," Ferb said, his eyes darting around nervously. He shifted his feet. "I'm not sure it can be summed up in short."

"Oh, yes it can!" Phineas nodded. Ferb went to stop him, but it was too late. Phineas' mouth was already in motion. "So, Ferb is an alien from this planet called Gallifrey and he has a ship that travels in time and space and the girl in the corner is Erin and she's also his species and yes, yes Isabella is very pregnant because we time traveled and it's my kid."

Linda didn't know what to make of this. Naturally, the first comment out of her mouth was the one that everyone expected: "You got her _pregnant_?"

"I do believe that was the clearest statement within that jumbled mess," Erin said, pursing her lips in a pathetic smile. She looked over at Isabella, who was turning red again. "I mean, isn't it rather obvious, though? I'd question the rest of that if I were you."

"The rest of that didn't make any sense!" Linda said, pulling at her hair. She paced a little bit. "Phineas, you're starting to sound like Candace! Why would I believe that Ferb is an alien? He's just as human as you and me! And time travel? That's no excuse for disappearing for two weeks to hide the fact that you got a girl pregnant!"

"Why would I lie about this?" Phineas frowned. "You know me, when I lie I think of logical things!"

"Phineas Flynn!" Linda marched over to him and pointed one finger into his chest. He swallowed hard. "Of all of my children, I _least_ expected you to have a child before you graduated high school! And now you're lying about things that don't even make sense?"

"Linda!" the voice of Isabella's mother, Vivian, came from upstairs.

"Oh, no…" Ferb mumbled. He motioned to Erin, who opened the door of the TARDIS. He made eye contact with Phineas. The message was clear. When he signaled, they left. Ferb heard the steps of Vivian in the hallway. "Run!"

"What are you-?!" Linda was cut off when the four disappeared into the TARDIS and shut the door loudly behind them. They all pressed their bodies against the door. She ran over to it and started banging on the window. "Get out of this telephone booth _right now_, boys! You can't hide in their forever!"

"Linda, what's happening?" Vivian's voice came.

Ferb darted over to the console and started to move the TARDIS. They could hear Linda and Vivian's shouts of surprise when the TARDIS started to fade. He made sure that they were far down the street, closer to Candace's house. When it stopped, he turned around and stared at Phineas and Isabella. His brother was holding her in an embrace and stroking her hair.

"We can't go back there!" she cried. Everyone focused on her. She took a step back from Phineas and frowned deeply.

"Are you alright?" Phineas asked her. Her eyebrows knit together. "Isabella, is everything alright?"

She placed one hand on the base of her abdomen and started to breathe heavily. Grasping around Phineas' shoulders, she gasped a little. "Something…doesn't feel right…"

"Get her inside of Candace's house, we can explain to her later, but we need to figure this out," Ferb told them. They did as they were told, Phineas and Erin walking alongside Isabella, who still had one arm clutched around Phineas' shoulders and the other holding up her belly. Ferb ran up and knocked on Candace's door. It opened rather abruptly. Candace's mouth dropped open.

"Holy mackerel, Isabella, did you swallow a watermelon?!" Candace blinked. She ushered everyone inside and hurriedly closed the door behind them. "What's the story this time? I only got the call that she was pregnant a few weeks ago."

"Well, time was frozen, and then there were quantum-locked beings that sent us to the past…and this unusual amnesia that we're still trying to figure out," Ferb sighed. "It's like there's some kind of paradox happening and we can't find it."

Phineas and Erin got Isabella seated on the couch. Ferb walked over to her and crouched down beside the couch. She had her hands clutching her round stomach as if she were in pain. Her eyebrows were still knit together.

"Something doesn't add up about all of this," Ferb scratched his chin. He frowned in thought. "Time was acting up as if there was a paradox happening. There is no evident paradox…but Isabella's pregnancy was affected directly by the time problems. None of the rest of us have aged two months."

"How do you know that?" Erin questioned, crossing her arms.

"I tested it with my sonic wrench," he hummed. He thought a little harder. "The most paradoxes I have seen are when two of the same person unintentionally meet. We don't have two of the same person traveling with us, though."

"But what if we do…?" Erin said, in almost a whisper.

"What do you mean?" Ferb stood to his full height and placed his hands on his hips. "Are you saying that Isabella was a past regeneration of yours? Or Phineas, perhaps?"

"It's possible," Erin said, putting up her index fingers. "But, what if it's not _them_ who has a copy?"

Everyone's eyes dropped to Isabella's abdomen. She looked up at the rest of the group and paled slightly. Erin was suggesting that Isabella could possibly be the mother of any one of them in the room. It was a lot to take in for an amateur time-traveler. Isabella stared down at her taut stomach again.

"If one of us is inside of Isabella right now…" Phineas grimaced, "then which one of us am I the father of?"

"My first thought is that you're both humans, your child would be a human!" Ferb hummed. "But Phineas can't be his own father, that doesn't even make sense! And you can't be my father and mother either, they're back on Gallifrey!"

"Which makes it Erin," Phineas concluded. "But Erin's a Timelord."

"Unless being conceived while I was flying the TARDIS through the time vortex had some unusual effect on the baby…" Isabella pointed out, turning white as a sheet. Everyone shifted their gazes to Erin. "…you're…in two places at the same time…"


	9. A Closer Look

**Just kidding I wrote another...! -AJ **

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><p>Erin voted that she should leave to keep the paradox from continuing. Ferb was resistant to this truth, since he'd only just got her back. She wanted to be kept somewhere safe until the time that whatever happened at her twelfth birthday happened and she could once again rejoin the Inventor on his adventures.<p>

The next problem was Isabella. Not that she herself was a problem; it was more so the fact that she was, by some oddity, carrying a half-Timelord. Hopefully, the issue with time wouldn't be negatively affecting her anymore, as she was in enough shock already from having, in her mind's eye, skipped two whole months of pregnancy.

Everyone was sitting in Candace's living area. Ferb had occupied Jeremy's armchair, and Phineas and Isabella were on the couch. She was lying down with her legs draped over Phineas' lap. Her cellphone was in her hands. She was probably texting one of her friends. Ferb's attention was on the telly. Candace walked in and placed her hands on her hips.

"How long are you guys gonna camp out here?" she sighed.

"Someone destroyed the Prime Minister's office…" Ferb mumbled. He frowned and turned his gaze to Candace. "Why? Do you want us to leave?"

"Mom's been panicking and freaking out because she's cross with you three," Candace said flatly, crossing her arms. She glanced over at the uninterested couple on the couch. Phineas looked as if he were just nodding off. "Don't you think you should confront her? And what's this whole deal about you being an alien nonsense?"

Phineas jerked up a little and told her, "He _is_ an alien!"

"Please, he's a naturalized citizen," Candace huffed.

"Not that kind of alien, Candace," Phineas shook his head vigorously. "An alien from another planet. Tell her, Ferb!"

"Yes I'm a Timelord from the planet Gallifrey," Ferb sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He squinted at the news clips on the television screen. There was a glimpse of that police box, again. Rolling his eyes, he shut the telly off and returned his attention to Candace. "I'm several centuries old, have two hearts, can travel in time and space, and can change my face if I'm dying. Is that enough information for you?"

"Ferb, really?" Candace made a face. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Not really," he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, guys, if Candace wants us out, we should just leave," Isabella said, taking her eyes away from her phone for a moment. She shifted a little and stretched out some. Slowly, she pulled her legs down off of the couch and she sat up. Again, she stretched, this time raising her arms and arching her back.

"Okay, I'm not forcing you out," Candace clarified. "But I would like a time frame or something. It'd be helpful."

"We can get out and do something," Ferb offered.

"Yeah, I could use some movement…" Isabella said, sitting back into the couch and leaning against Phineas. She draped one hand on top of her stomach. "Sitting here like a vegetable for a few days hasn't done any of us any good."

"Alright, then, into the TARDIS we go," Ferb said, standing up. Phineas stood and offered a hand to Isabella. She took it and slowly stood to her feet. Ferb wondered if it would be a good idea to take her anywhere, but he didn't want to offend her by leaving her out. He looked at her and raised his brow. "Anyone need to use the loo before we go?"

"Yes…" Isabella rolled her eyes. She awkwardly waddled around Phineas to head for the bathroom. Candace frowned and gave Phineas a hard glare.

"What?" he blinked.

"I honestly thought I'd be the first of the three of us to have kids," she sighed. Ferb looked away from the two siblings and fiddled with his sonic wrench. "Since, you know, I'm the married one. Unless mister 'I want people to believe I'm centuries old' has been married or had kids before."

"I courted a girl once," Ferb said blankly. "She wasn't really my type. Preferred someone else, anyways. Besides, my heart's given to someone already."

"That Erin girl?" Candace raised one eyebrow. Ferb said nothing to confirm or deny her guess. His human stepsister glanced from Phineas and then back to him. "You've given your heart to the girl that is coincidentally Phineas and Isabella's baby? Do you even know how weird that sounds?"

"Now that you're cognizant of how time actually works, perhaps you should stop questioning it," Ferb smirked. Isabella hobbled back into the room and smiled at Phineas. He smiled back at her. "Are we ready now?"

"Most definitely!" Isabella nodded.

The three walked outside to where Ferb had left the TARDIS sitting. He unlocked the door and let them in. Once the door was closed, Phineas let out an agitated sigh. Candace had been bothering him about the fact that he'd been able to become a father before her for the past few days. Ferb had come to assume that her jealousy meant she and Jeremy had been trying for a baby as of late. He shrugged off the thought and started up the engines.

"Where are we off to this time?" Isabella asked, leaning against the console. She crossed her arms.

"Where do you want to go?" Ferb asked her.

"I don't know, hmm," she said. "How about somewhere in the past in the Old West? I've always wanted to know if we had an accurate image of what that looked like, you know?"

"Old West it is, then," Ferb chuckled.

"You don't think you'll be too hot?" Phineas lifted an eyebrow at her. She shook her head and sat down on the console. Frowning, Phineas placed his hands on the sides of her protruding belly and sighed. "If you're sure."

Ferb watched them with curiosity. He'd never fully understood the human nature, but they were fun to observe. It was funny, the way that psychology worked for most creatures in the universe. A single unifying factor, in their instance, a baby, made them see one another in a completely different setting. Phineas treated her now in a sense that she was the most fragile thing on the Earth, but it wasn't condescending. It was more like she was something he wanted to keep from breaking because of his devotion and love to her. In return, Isabella seemed to trust him with her life.

In the pit of his stomach, Ferb couldn't deny the slight jealousy he felt. He wanted that. He'd had years to find the right girl on Gallifrey and blown it; he had to win Erin's heart. He _wanted_ to win Erin's heart. If he was going to run from his childhood folly, he would have to accept that he truly did love Erin, and the only way for him to not be alone was to be with her.

And perhaps to try to return again.

"I just want to know you're okay," Phineas told her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Ferb hid his face and stared down at the controls. There was only one word that could describe what other feeling they gave him—guilt.


End file.
